Excerpt: "The best kind of NFL owner is the kind who either 1.) melts into the scenery while allowing his football decision-makers to make all the right decisions, or 2.) steps out as the front man of a team --- and in some ways, of a city -- that is successful because, dammit, his biggest passion is winning.

Conversely, the worst kind of NFL owner is the one who either 1.) makes himself front and center but either doesn't make the right personnel decisions or hamstrings the people who are supposed to be doing so, or 2.) is the kind of front man who's loud, boisterous and, ultimately, unsuccessful.

We examine the first kind of owner -- the kind of owner you'd most want running your favorite team. This isn't necessarily the best front office in the league, because you can have a front office that has done well at times for an owner who often doesn't do right by his city. A guy like Cincinnati's Mike Brown comes to mind. Or, on the other hand, you can have an owner whose teams haven't been all that good lately but whose passion to win still can galvanize a fanbase. I'm talking about a guy who's a slightly more successful, slightly less obnoxious Jerry Jones.

If I were a fan, these are the kinds of owners I'd want in charge of my team.

7. John Mara: We enjoy long-lasting family ownership groups, and Mara is part of a pretty good one. His grandfather, Tim Mara, founded the Giants (http://www.cbssports.com/nfl/teams/page/NYG/new-york-giants) organization in the mid-1920s, and though John Mara didn't take over the team full-time until 2005, following the death of his father, Wellington Mara, New York has had a fantastic run since then, winning a pair of Super Bowls. One of Mara's best moves has been to resist the multiple temptations to fire coach Tom Coughlin. But best of all, Mara still corresponds with fans, as the NY Times (http://www.nytimes.com/2012/01/27/sports/football/for-giants-co-owner-john-mara-a-wild-ride.html?pagewanted=all) wrote in 2012. He was one of the more outspoken owners during the lockout of 2011, but still, Giants fans can't argue with the success that Mara has helped continue since he became co-owner." Read more...